Luton Town have said they are “angry, upset and frustrated” after their striker Elijah Adebayo was subjected to “cowardly” racist abuse.
The Championship club asked “is it ever going to stop?” after the 26-year-old was subjected to “vile and disgusting messages pouring into his (social media) account from faceless racists.”
Luton notified the police and Meta — the company that owns and operates Instagram, where Adebayo received the abuse — after the striker notified the club of the messages after Wednesday’s Championship match against Sunderland. The club confirmed the issue is now being investigated.
They described the individual who contacted Adebayo as “cowardly”, saying “we know who you are and you know who you are”, while pledging their “unequivocal support” to the player.
Addressing the abuser directly, Luton said in a statement: “But as if you have the balls to come to Kenilworth Road and say it to his face. We dare you. If you do, you’ll be faced with everyone at Luton Town Football Club, standing side-by-side with Elijah.”
The club added: “But the question remains: how much longer will our players, our heroes – fellow human beings for crying out loud – be targeted because of the colour of their skin? There is NO room for racism.”
Adebayo, who scored 10 Premier League goals in 27 appearances for Luton last season, score his first goal of the 2024-25 campaign in the Championship in Wednesday’s defeat to Sunderland at Kenilworth Road.
Luton are back in Championship action on Saturday with an away match at Coventry City.
(Copa/Getty Images)
